There's Something About Seventh Year
by Muse Dae
Summary: *Abandoned*
1. Summers End

**Title: **There's Something About Seventh Year

**Author: **Muse Dae

**Rating: **Currently PG-13

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of this, except the stuff you do not recognize. I own Marie and Sebastian Du Ponte, along with their parents and their home, so no stealing, got it? If you do steal them, I will be forced to sue you or something along those lines. To get to the point, I only wish I was J.K. Rowling, but, sadly, I'm not…-sobbing-

**Summary: **Summer has just ended and seventh year is about to begin. But nobody expects what happens on the very first day. With a war waging fiercely outside the walls of Hogwarts, Dumbledore thinks it's time for the Seventh Years to learn how to survive in secrecy, as muggles. For the first half of the year, the entire seventh year will be put into pre-selected pairs and be sent out into Muggle England to live with their partner. Pairs are usually inter-house, with one exception, the Head Boy and Head Girl. So, when Lily Evans and James Potter are paired together, can either of them survive?

**Disclaimer 2: **My plot. You steal, I hurt you. Got it?

* * *

**Chapter 1**

_Summer's End_

Evan and Rachel Du Ponte loved their children and adored Lily Evans, but by the time summer was drawing to a close, it couldn't come fast enough for them. For 16 years, they had put up with their children's pranks and jokes, which became more elaborate and better with each passing year, but never before had their children had someone who could plan and plot pranks like a war general plotted an attack. Lily Evans was a masterful planner, an incredibly bright girl and had a vindictive streak, just like the rest of us. But when you put those three things together, Lily Evans was a force to be reckoned with, and Evan felt pity for the boy that Lily had sworn revenge on. Rachel, however, egged on the girl she'd come to think of as her own daughter, even helping the girl with some elements of pranks, all of which were tested on Evan.

Needless to say, this had been the best summer that Lily could remember having for a very long time. At first, it had taken her a while to get used to the constant French flying around her head, it had taken a while for her to learn enough French to understand what was going on, but by the fifth week of the summer, Lily was as fluent in French as she was in English. She suspected that the spell Sebastian had hit her with had something to do with her sudden understanding of the language, but she didn't pursue the topic.

But the summer ended fast and soon it came time for the kids to return to Hogwarts. The trunks were packed, owls were safely locked in cages, new books and robes had been bought and put away. And everyone was ready for the journey to Kings Cross Station and then, finally, back to Hogwarts. Lily would miss the Du Ponte's, but she loved Hogwarts. It was her home, just like the Du Ponte's was her second home. As the wizarding taxi's pulled up outside the house, Evan and Rachel Du Ponte hugged and kissed all the children, including Lily, who was now like one of their own. Just as mischeivious, if not more so. The three of them piled into the taxi and waved good bye to the two adults as the taxi's jerked into motion and drove quickly down the lane.

"So Lils, looking forward to getting back at Potter…I mean, back to Hogwarts this year?"

Sebastian grinned as Marie covered her slip up quickly. Lily chuckled as well and tied back her crimson hair in a dark ribbon, turning her emerald visionaries on the twins.

"I'm looking forward to both. Potter's getting his arse given to him this year, revenge is imminent. And it'll be great to get back to Hogwarts. Your house is amazing, Marie, but I love Hogwarts. It's been my home since I was 11 years old. I know it better than anyone, even those egotistical Marauders."

Lily smirked and looked at her two best friends, who had identical evil grins on their paper-white faces. She yawned and sat back in the taxi seat, letting herself drift off to sleep, hearing the twins beginning to snore as she finally dozed off about twenty minutes later.

About two hours later, the Du Ponte twins and Lily were sitting in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express, and Lily was fingering her Head Girl badge. She looked at her friends and shrugged.

"I gotta go to the meeting."

She said, getting up. Marie waved her off and told her to say hello to Remus for her. Sebastian hit her over the head gently and Lily laughed as Marie started arguing with him. She slid shut the compartment door and headed to the Prefects Carriage. When she stepped inside, the only two people there were two people Lily Evans didn't particularly like. That bastard James Potter and the quiet Remus Lupin.

"Marie says hi, Remus. Potter, what are you doing here?"

Lily spoke mainly to Remus, refusing to look at Potter. Remus spoke for him.

"His mom passed out when she found out her 'Little Jaime' had gotten Head Boy."

Lily fell backwards into a chair, gasping.

"Wait, what? Remus…you didn't get Head Boy?"

"Nope. James did."

Lily shook her head. Dumbledore's age was finally starting to show. He must be senile by now. She sighed and put her head in her hands.

"Damn. Well…Congratulations Potter. That's too bad, Remus."

She sighed as the prefects filed in and took their seats. Six prefects from every house. Lily surveyed them. Two for the fifth years, two for the sixth years and two for the seventh years. Most she didn't recognize but a few she did. Severus Snape and Narcissa Black for Slytherin, Remus for Gryffindor, Max Jordan and Angelina Tallen for Ravenclaw. But those were the only people she recognized.

"Okay…well, lets begin the meeting. I'm Lily Evans, your head girl. And this is James Potter…he's your head boy."

A couple of people, mainly the Slytherins, gasped. Lily continued, but was not oblivious to the shocked looks of most of the prefects.

"Now…uhm…First order of business. Prefects meetings are every Friday evening, from 6 to 7 in the Prefects Common Room. Its behind the picture of Mora the Mortified on the sixth floor. Password is Twilight. If you give this password to anyone else, the magic of the room will turn you into a blueberry. No, I'm serious. Remember Amos Diggory? He went missing for those two weeks last year? Hospital wing. He was a peach. Yeah, I have pictures…No Max, I won't give them to you. Any questions?"

"Nope…Nada…Non…"

Three different languages. Hmm…Maybe they weren't all brainless morons after all. Lily sat down as the prefects filed out to patrol the corridors. James was sitting on the other side of the carriage, watching her with slightly narrowed eyes.

"Potter."

"Evans."

"You thought you won, Potter, but you didn't. Bare in mind, Pranksters Inc. is back and revenge is in the making. Beware."

On that serious note, Lily left the compartment.

Lily and James had gone their separate ways. They had returned to their own friends and were enjoying the rest of the ride. Little did they   
know that these were the last peaceful moments of their lives. The few hours on the train were the last peaceful moments they would have until the day they died. Because an evil was approaching. A war was beginning. And the students of Hogwarts would be caught in the middle as soon as they reached Hogwarts.

**

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A/N: **Hey guys. Sorry this took so long to get up. And I'm sorry it's so short. I've been having writers block and I'm working on several things at a time. Seven things, actually. My stories here, three narratives for school, a novel, and a story on Quizilla. A lot of stuff. **Bonds Of Love** will be updated when I get a way to start the next chapter. Any ideas should be emailed to me! Cause I have chapter starting block. I don't have a way to start the new chapter. Any ideas email me! So, yeah, my apologies. - Muse


	2. The Seventh Year Plan

Title: **There's Something About Seventh Year**

**Author: **Muse Dae

**Rating: **Currently PG-13

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of this, except the stuff you do not recognize. I own Marie and Sebastian Du Ponte, along with their parents and their home, so no stealing, got it? If you do steal them, I will be forced to sue you or something along those lines. Oh, I also own...Reginold Belby, Eunice Mullet, Rick Thomas, Lysandra Yen, Fabius Watkins, Maria Jahns, Samson Youdle, Erica Spudeky...okay yeah. You get the point. To get to the point, I only wish I was J.K. Rowling, but, sadly, I'm not…-sobbing-

**Summary: **Summer has just ended and seventh year is about to begin. But nobody expects what happens on the very first day. With a war waging fiercely outside the walls of Hogwarts, Dumbledore thinks it's time for the Seventh Years to learn how to survive in secrecy, as muggles. For the first half of the year, the entire seventh year will be put into pre-selected pairs and be sent out into Muggle England to live with their partner. Pairs are usually inter-house, with one exception, the Head Boy and Head Girl. So, when Lily Evans and James Potter are paired together, can either of them survive?

**Disclaimer 2**: My plot. You steal, I hurt you. Got it?

The formatting got a little screwed up and it's annoying me.

* * *

In the year since Marie had met Lily Evans, the French girl had never seen the English rose quite as angry as she seemed when she stormed back into their compartment. She slammed the door closed with such force that the glass cracked and the door rebounded once before sliding back into place. Her lips were pressed into a thin line, and her eyes, while still sad and dull, were blazing with anger.

"That...that...THING...is Head Boy!"

Her voice rose a few octaves with each word as she threw herself back into the soft seat. Sebastian and Marie exchanged concerned glances as the broken glass began to shudder with each rise in pitch. But as no explosion came, Sebastian again buried his head in his copy of the Daily Prophet, while Marie tried to make sense of Lily's angry seething. Though she was ranting, the effect was somewhat diminished by the fact that she had her hands over her face, muffling her anger.

"...aot....shidit...hash...umplforth...IDIOT."

She threw herself back, facing the ceiling of the compartment, glaring at it as if it had done her a personal wrong. Marie chuckled slightly, looking at her best friend with bemusement in her eyes. There was no denying that this would be an interesting year, what with James as Head Boy and Lily as Head Girl. She leaned back in her seat, casting a sideways glance at her brother, who was still buried in his newspaper. It was, to be honest, the safest place to be at the moment. As Marie watched Lily seething, she saw Remus about to tap on the glass.

Frantically, she shook her head, willing his knuckles not to connect with the glass now, when Lily was so angry at anything male or Potter-related. She felt as though Remus wouldn't survive an encounter with Lily if she were to spy him. Remus seemed to accept her rejection after she looked pointedly at Lily, who was currently shrieking into her book bag with suppressed rage.

"HOW COULD DUMBLEDORE APPOINT THAT SLIME HEAD BOY?!"She raged. Marie shrugged.

"It could be Snape."

That shut Lily up.

-----

It was the normal hustle and bustle of the platform that Lily was pleased to find had not changed. Students still ran around like headless chickens, trying to find a carriage or their friends before the latter disappeared. As Marie and Sebastian appeared behind her, however, people began to move aside to let them pass, in a way similar to how they acted when the Marauders came around. They respectfully fell back and looked at the three Seventh Years with awestruck faces. Lily glanced around surriptiously before letting words leak out of the corner of her mouth,

"What the hell?"

Marie grinned slyly.

"We're royalty now, Lilyflower. We took on the Marauders. You're Head Girl, and everyone wants to know if James being Head Boy means that Pranksters Inc and the Marauders will come to a armistice.""Not bloody likely!"

Piped up Sebastian. Lily cast the boy a small smile, admiring his stubborn expression. Sebastian and Marie had taken to France much better than Lily had, given that they had lived their for their entire lives. Both were golden brown, courtesy of the hot summer sun, while Lily was still her typical Liverpool white, dusted with freckles she'd inherited from her Irish mother. Petty was more their fathers daughter, with her straight blonde hair and flawless complexion. Lily shook her head very slightly to rid herself of memories of her past.

"You alright, Flower?" Marie looked concerned and Lily self consciously rubbed her wrist before nodding and smiling a brilliant smile that didn't quite extend to her eyes. Marie didn't seem to notice, and if she did, said nothing about the false smile, as the three piled into a carriage that was waiting by the gates. Lily leaned back in the plush seats, smiling as the great gates of Hogwarts came into view. It had been too long since she'd seen her home. Marie and Sebastian were conversing in fast French, too fast for Lily to keep up with. She sent them pointed looks and they smirked identically evil smirks before speaking more quietly and in faster, more jumbled French. Lily glowered. Moments later, they fell into a comfortable silence that extended through to the entrance of the castle. Seeing as they were in the last carriage, Lily heard the gates creak closed behind them, but was slightly unnerved to see Professor Flitwick casting what seemed to be protective charms over the gates with a teacher she'd yet to encounter.

"Who was…"

"Some new professor, obviously."

Marie cut off Lily's question. The redhead rolled her eyes

."Really? I never would have guessed. Thank you, Sherlock Holmes."

"…Who?"

"…Nevermind."

Sometimes, it was hard to imagine life without commonplace muggle objects. Lily had often referred to telly shows, or muggle books, only to earn blank stares from the French teens she called her best friends. It was ridiculously difficult to even explain the concepts of television to them, let alone convince them that Muggles weren't all that bad at writing. After being introduced to a story about magic, Marie had denounced all muggle writing as "horridly inaccurate" and refused to even touch another muggle book until her dying day, and even then it would be a struggle. Sebastian wasn't fond of reading to begin with, which presented a problem in and of itself.

Lily fell back into her own thoughts as the carriages rumbled closer and closer to the castle she lived in with five hundred other students for ten months out of the year. This place was more her home than anywhere else in the world. As they rumbled past the Black Lake towards the castle, Lily allowed her eyes to lumber shut, wincing one or twice as her arm hit the sides of the carriage on the bumpy ride.

As the carriage rolled to a stop outside the Entrance Hall, Lily felt some peace washing over her as the familiar sights, sounds and smells filled her mind. Hagrid was approaching via the Black Lake and Lily smiled softly, recalling how terrified she'd been on that boat ride over. Marie and Sebastian hooked their arms with Lily's and began walking the distracted redhead through the crowd of people towards the Great Hall, past the Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw tables before settling in three of the seats that the Marauders usually claimed for themselves.

And so when James, Sirius and Remus finally dragged themselves into the Hall, with James flashing his Head Boy badge at anyone who tried to stand in their way, they were extremely displeased to see Pranksters Inc. in their usual haunting ground.

"Move."

James spat at the twins. Lily rolled her eyes at his attempted authority."I'm Head Girl, Potter. I can sit wherever the bloody hell I choose."

She smiled winningly at him and began to motion to the empty seats beside them.

"The Sorting is about to start! Sit down!"

Remus grinned and took a seat beside Marie, while Sirius and James took seats on either side of Lily, who didn't look too pleased. Many girls in Hogwarts would be swooning to be the meat in a James-Sirius sandwich, but not Lily Evans. She elbowed them both.

"A little room would be appreciated, boys!"

As the song began, Lily rested her chin on her hand and looked over at Marie, who was deep in conversation with Remus.

"Remus, did you finish that History of Magic essay Binns assigned us over the holiday?"

"The one on Noglan the Horrid and his reign over Goblin Russia? Yeah, I finished it."

"Alright. I don't know how I'll do on this essay. I mean, it was all about Goblin Russia. There aren't many books about that around anymore. Surely Binns had to have known that?"

"That's probably why he assigned it." James and Sirius were both looking aghast, having not realized that there was a History of Magic essay due. They stood fast and James looked frantically at Lily.

"Evans, I have to…go somewhere. You can deal with the ickle firsties!"And with that, he and Sirius bolted out of the Great Hall, much to the amusement of the five hundred students now inhabiting it. It had been a fairly large sorting, at least sixty students, hence the sudden burst of population. Dumbledore smiled and leaned back, a twinkle in his eyes as he watched his Head Boy dash out.

Marie looked at Lily.

"What essay?"

"There wasn't one."Lily smiled cheekily and helped herself to some pudding while Sebastian laughed raucously at the obliviousness of two of the most intelligent boys in the school. Soon, the food had been cleared away and Dumbledore was standing, smiling and stretching.

"I trust you all had an enjoyable and exciting summer holiday. But alas, it is time to return to the school I know you all love and adore."

This sentiment was met with some agreement, and some groans. Dumbledore pressed on.

"Due to approaching circumstances, I would like to request that all Seventh Years remain in the Great Hall after I send the other years to their common rooms. Sixth Year Prefects, will you please take over the duties of the Seventh Years and the Head Boy and Girl and lead the first years to your commons? I thank you in advance. Now. After that lovely meal, I suppose I shall bid you all adieu. Pip pip, cherrio! Off to bed with you. Schedules will be distributed during breakfast, which begins promptly at 6 a.m. and ends at 9 a.m., which is when first classes begin. Good night!"

Lily exchanged confused looks with Remus, Marie and several other seventh years as the lower years began to mill around them, leaving the Hall. The unmistakable entrance of Sirius and James, however, was not masked by this. They thundered back into the hall, red in the face.

"LIARS. There was no Goblin Reign of Russia!"

They glared at Lily, who whistled innocently. The two boys looked around in confusion as the hall emptied."Why are the seventh years still here?"Remus shrugged as his two best friends sat beside him."Dumbledore wants us to stay. He has something to talk to us about, apparently."

"If I could have silence, please!"

Dumbledore's voice rang out across the hall, louder than usual due to the lack of people. It reverberated off of the walls and echoed. He chuckled softly."I suppose I won't have to be as loud. There are only forty of you, such a small class. You must all be wondering why I have requested that you remain behind while your classmates are tucked into their lovely warm beds and I am sure you are quite tired and ready to join them-- No, Mister Black, not in that way."

Sirius' chuckle had earned him a stern glare from Professor McGonnagal and a comment from Professor Dumbledore. He smiled cheekily as the headmaster continued.

"As I was saying, I'm quite sure all of you cannot wait to get into your cozy, warm beds, so I will keep this short. This year I have decided to put into works a project that has been floating around my mind for several years. It has been decided that the entire Seventh Year class will participate in what I call the Seventh Year Plan. You will spend the first half of your educational year in Muggle London."

Uproar. As those words left Dumbledore's mouth, the entire hall, all forty students, burst into chatter. The Slytherins were outraged, the Hufflepuffs nervous, the Gryffindors bewildered and the Ravenclaws seemed focused on one thing. How would this affect their studies?! As the chatter began to wane, Dumbledore began to speak again."I know this sounds strange. I know some of you are nervous about this, but rest assured, everything will be explained to you in time. You will get more information tomorrow at supper. Ta at. Oh, and will the Head Boy and Head Girl, that is, James Potter and Lily Evans, please come to my office immediately. Good night!"

With that, Dumbledore swept from the hall, leaving the Seventh Years to troop to their common rooms, discussing this development in earnest.

"I told you…there's something about seventh year…" Murmured Remus, who had uttered the same sentiment the year before. He knew Dumbledore would do something huge this year. James nodded slowly and looked, with contempt and distaste, at Lily.

"Come on, Evans. We have a headmaster to see."

He grumbled. She rolled her eyes

."Don't wait up, Potter. I'll be there." She spat. He rolled his eyes and she turned to Marie and Sebastian.

"Go up to the common. I'll be there soon."

Marie smiled gently.

"Lily love, you forgot…Heads have their own dorms and common room. You don't have a bed in Gryffindor Tower anymore, remember? You were explaining this to me all summer, until you found out Potter was Head Boy, and then it magically slipped your mind."

Lily groaned and swatted her best friend away.

"I hate you. I'll see you in the morning."

Marie smiled and walked out of the hall with her twin, walking quickly so she could catch up to Remus to discuss the upcoming events. Lily grumbled and began dragging her feet towards Dumbledore's office. As she approached the stone gargoyle that guarded his abode, Lily realized with dismay that she had no idea as to what the password could be. She groaned again.

"Uh…alohamora…" She said feebly, hoping that the gargoyle would take pity on her. It simply smiled."Pie…Juice…Watermelon. Password. Tarten. Socks. Wool."

She continued on this vein for at least five minutes when at long last her least favorite person at Hogwarts arrived. James Potter had somehow managed to take ten minutes to come from the Great Hall to the office. She glowered at him.

"Don't know the password, ehh ickle Evans?""I'm older than you. Shut up and open the bloody thing."She hissed. He rolled his eyes and turned to the Gargoyle.

"It's a…Monday right? In September? 1977? That would make the password…Pumpkin Pasty!"

The Gargoyle hopped aside and Lily stared at James, aghast. He preened."The fact that you have set up an algorithm for how to decipher his passwords means you've been here far too many times."She spat as she brushed aside, successfully putting an end to his preening. He glared."Not all of us are uptight bitches."He hissed. She felt her eye twitch but continued on.

"And not all of us are as fucked up as you are, Evans."She pushed open the office door with such force she caused several precariously perched trinkets to fall and shatter on the ground. Her face drained of color.

"Professor I'm so sorry! I--"

"Perfectly all right, Miss Evans. I daresay I have far too many trinkets anyway!"

He smiled at her and motioned for the two Head Students to sit in comfortable looking armchairs that were set right in front of his desk. Lily sat first, and James followed suit. As he began to sit, Lily surreptitiously jerked her wand, causing James to sit on pins."MERLIN!" He yelled, jumping up and looking from the pins to Lily with obvious hate.

"Fuck you, Evans."

"That's quite enough." Dumebledore spoke with such finality that both seventeen year olds immediately became quite subdued.

"I expect better from both of you, now that you've become the Heads. I called you here not only to explain more about the Seventh Year Plan, but to request that your respective groups call off your turf war of sorts. I know everything that happens in my school." He smiled in his own way and Lily averted her eyes. James looked mutinous.

"I know this will be…difficult…to say the least, for both of you, as you two have seemed to develop quite a distaste for one another in the past year, but I hope you can put that to rest, or at least set it aside, until the school year has ended and you go your separate ways."

The way he said it made Lily feel as though there was much more he had to say."Anyway. I trust that you two can put aside your petty differences…""Not bloody likely." Spat James.

"I'm sorry, Headmaster, but if he insists on being so [I]juvenile[/I] then we will have no choice but to retaliate." Hissed Lily, glaring viciously at her co-Head. It seemed ridiculous that until recently, she had found him attractive, had found herself romantically inclined towards him. But those feelings had quickly vanished when he had revealed himself to be nothing but an arrogant, rude, bullying toerag. Dumbledore sighed softly.

"Very well. I will proceed with explaining the plan then, shall I?"

When the question elicited no response from either of the brooding teens, he continued.

"You will be paired off at random by an enchanted goblet," Lily looked up at this and tilted her head.

"Like the one they used for the TriWizard Tournements, sir?"

"Yes, my dear. Exactly. As I was saying, you will be paired off at random and your wands will be charmed only to work in the direst of circumstances. You will all be given IDs that have your names, ages and other necessary information in order to mix with Muggles properly. The idea is that you are able to mix in, just in case."

"In case of what, sir?"

"There are dark times approaching, I'm sad to say. In a dire situation, it may be necessary for some of you to give up your magic and live as muggles to save yourselves. This is preparation, just in case. Anywho. Pairs will be announced within the next few days. You will leave on the Fifteenth of October and will return on the Fifteenth of February. Please do not relay any of this information to the general population as we already have set up times to inform them and to have them prepared. Your studies will not be harshly impacted, have no fear. You will all have your text books with you, however you will not be able to perform any practical magic. You will have little to no contact with anyone at Hogwarts, though you may run into your friends and their partners while you're out and about. We will give you enough Muggle money to get started, however you may have to work to earn enough money to survive for the four months you will be there. I believe that is all. James, please show Miss Evans to the dorms, as I think you know the way to them, since you did frequent them last year…Oh yes James, as I said, I know everything that happens in this school."

He smiled wryly at James, who had a dusting of magenta on his cheeks as he stood.

"Yes Professor."

He mumbled, abashed.

"Let's go, Evans."

His words were so mashed, she barely understood them, but stood and nodded goodbye to Dumbledore. As the two left, the elderly professor sat back and sighed. If only they had not resorted to such petty tactics. He tapped his fingers together and looked at Fawkes.

"Bring Minerva to me, please. I believe we will do the pairing tonight, instead of tomorrow."

Fawkes cawed and flew out the window towards McGonnagals office.

------------

In another part of the castle, Lily Evans was following James Potter with an extremely disgruntled look on her face. She was taking in every twist and every turn in the hopes that she would never have to ask Potter for help finding the Heads Dorms…their dorms, she blanched as this thought crossed her mind. As she trailed behind him, she internally sighed at the idea of having to share a dorm with him for at least half the year. Well, it wasn't as bad as she had originally feared. She only had to live with him for half a year, instead of the entirety of her Seventh Year. She took solace in that. After all, anyone she got paired with would automatically respect her authority since she was Head Girl. She'd be left alone. It'd be perfect. She smiled gently and, distracted as she was, walked directly into James, who had stopped in front of a portrait of a middle aged man who looked fairly irritated that he had been awoken. He appeared to be a medieval

"You. Potter, innit? What're you doin back here? The new Head Girl hasn't even moved in yet, so you can't have turned your charm on her already!"

"Actually, I'm Head Boy. That there is the Head Girl, not that I'd ever use any charm on her."

James's voice was so unreadable that Lily immediately stiffened, worried by the cool indifference of it. She walked towards the portrait and smiled.

"I'm Lily Evans, the new Head Girl. Can we go in?"

The portrait shook its head and Lily looked crestfallen.

"You have to set a password first, Miss. It's required. Decide amongst yourselves."

Lily looked at James and rolled her eyes.

"Make it whatever, Potter. I'll choose the new password next month."

"Alright. The password will be…Roger Doger!"

Lily looked at him, aghast. Only James Potter would think of something that inanely peculiar. She shrugged and nodded at the portrait, who smiled and swung open. Lily stepped through first and gasped.

The Commons would usually be neutral, as the Head Boy and Girl were rarely from the same house. But as Lily and James were both Gryffindors to the bone, the Common Room had adapted to that. There were many dark red couches around the room, fluffy rugs and a large warm fireplace with windows on either side that overlooked the lake and grounds. Many Gryffindor banners hung from the walls and ceiling, and there was a small bookcase on the far side, by a table obviously set for studying. Lily smiled and looked at the cozy armchair by the fire, mentally marking it as hers. James, too, seemed in awe. The Common Room had been more neutral, with a Ravenclaw Head Boy and a Hufflepuff Head Girl. Lily yawned and looked at her watch, which now read 10:54 p.m. She grumbled. James glanced at her.

"What are you whining about?"

"None of your business, Potter. I just wonder how much sleep I'll get this year with you and your _whores_ always around." She spat.

James looked affronted, even angry.

"Well not everyone is a stuck up bitch like you, Evans." He spat. She glared at him and moved for her wand. He raised his hand to stop her, but from Lily's position, it looked like the move for a slap. She immediately whimpered, her eyes darkened and she bolted up to her room, slamming the door and locking it tightly.

James stared after her, completely confused as to what had just happened. All he'd done was lift his hand to stop her from hexing him, and she'd bolted. Did she seriously think he was awful enough to hit a girl? He fell back into one of the fluffy arm chairs and rested his head in his hands, shaking his head.

"_What have I done..."_

----

In her room, Lily's chest was heaving with hysterical, dry sobs. When James had lifted his hand, she'd immediately flashed back to last summer, and the summer before that, and the summer before that, when every single day she'd had a new bruise to show. She whimpered and got up, shedding her robes and letting them fall onto the floor instead of hanging them on the edge of her bed per usual.

And within moments, she'd whipped out her wand and blasted the mirror that stood feet in front of her into pieces. The rage had gone away as quickly as it had surfaced and she looked at the shattered mirror on the floor and felt a tear trickle down her face.

Nothing was going the way it was supposed to anymore. She was supposed to live out her life easily. She was supposed to have her sister love her, her father be amazing, and her mother was supposed to still be alive. Her mother wasn't supposed to have died. She shook her head violently and sat down against the door, picking up one of the shards of reflective glass. She toyed with it until a sharp edge caught her wrist. She whimpered as a thin line of red appeared on the normally pale skin.

But it wasn't all that bad. Her mind was racing as she saw the blood come up in little dots. Maybe this was just what she needed. A simple escape. A perfect little niche. She'd always thought slicing your own skin open was ridiculous, but maybe it wasn't so bad. She slipped the shard into her drawer and looked at the mirror.

"Reparo!"

She waved her wand and saw the pieces reform, filling in the hole where the missing piece should have gone. And then, she pulled on her nightclothes and slipped into bed, falling into an irritable sleep.

_"He'll pay"_ was the last thing that went through her mind. "_James Potter will pay..."_


End file.
